Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

There is a well know saying in Spanish " Dime Con Quien Andas y Te Dire Quien Eres" . Loosely translated this means " tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are"

Read the PD article and see why some of the Farm to Table organic rhetoric pushed by the Hopkins campaign is in stark contrast to the people who are backing her (including her Republican consultant Rob Muelrath). The real estate development lobby, big money wineries and the Sonoma County Business Alliance don't back green and progressive candidates. They back those who will support their interests. Wake up and smell the Greenwashing

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Thanks ernie, you consistently educate me, even when you hack. Yes Noreen was not part of the county pension expansion, but I think she did go along with the herd in sr and the state, and still thinks it's not a problem, which is a problem.

Do you think there will be a bos vote to limit winery event centers? What about a vote to buffer vineyard chemical use around schools? How about the county pushing for a deal on frost protection and vineyard water use reporting with the state regional water agency? Could the county push back on reduced summer river flows or is water delivery responsibility a conflict of interest deal killer? Noreen says she wants tent encampments, tiny house villages, just cause eviction and rent control ordinances, are any of these even possible with an evans victory, (I think rent control would be a big mistake)?

I live really close to 116 and occidental and I feel sad that the old orchard was scraped and sits for sale. Is there anything the county could do to encourage a tiny house village there with on site septic and water? My experience is the county does everything it can to outlaw alternative low water use sustainable infrastructure while preaching out its ass a different story!!!! Help us ask better questions of the candidates, what is possible on the bos?

Ernieman wrote:

Your comments are on point and show understanding. Not sure what Noreen had to do with County pension problems.....

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

I offer my opponents a bargain; if they stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.
(Adlai Stevenson, 1952)

I will cry "Ouch" or "Uncle". Your questions are all good. I am not the candidate! I suggest going to a candidates forum and April 28th is the KOWS and PRSC candidates night in Sebastopol. Ask the questions directly to all five candidates. I do not know the format but a candidates forum is the best place. On housing, one must use every tool in the tool box but market factors make real estate expensive and what local government can do is limited. I personally, aside from the campaign, will fight against small house villages in agricultural zoning on septic and well. That needs to happen and it can, in sewered areas. There may be ways to integrate small houses in certain zoning. The process for the County to make major changes to planning rules to allow this would take about two years by practicality and law. We all follow the same process, big corporations and individuals. You have to determine which candidate lines up with your values an which can get it done. You know what line I am in.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Lisa,

So by your logic, whomever supports a candidate, be it real estate or business interests, or in the case of Noreen unions, Indian tribes, lawyers, pharmaceutical companies, recycler's, even Monsanto...then that candidate will be in the pocket of those interests, and will represent them at our peril?

Do you think Noreen capable of representing the public interest over your unions and some of her previously shady contributors in the past? I think so...Do I think Hopkins would represent the public over business interests? I think so...

If your strategy is to negatively associate other candidates with their supporters, past and present, I imagine Noreen may not be coming out looking so good.

Must you smear the good name of your Unions with slander and dirt? Why can't we have a clean election based on an honest exchange of ideas?

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Wow. Thats a lot of 'slander and dirt' for someone complaining about "slander and dirt" . First of all the endorsements and indeed the announcement by the Sonoma County Business PAC is a fact - as is Lynda Hopkin's endorsement by the North Bay Realtors PAC . Your other assertions about who is supporting Noreen Evans are just that- unsubstantiated assertions. Yes Labor does proudly support Noreen because she supports working men and women and in case you haven't noticed- working people are the majority in most communities. The working class keeps the county running- we are not a special interest.

Noreen is also endorsed by Sonoma County Conservation Action and the Sierra Club, more special interests with the nefarious goal of keeping our county and our environment beautiful and affordable. Sorry you find the disclosure of those facts upsetting.

PS. I will try to post below a list of the Sonoma County Business Alliance PAC's members so that you can see who is endorsing Lynda Hopkins and speculate why so many developers and real estate and winery interests have suddenly taken such a keen interest in an organic farmer.

So by your logic, whomever supports a candidate, be it real estate or business interests, or in the case of Noreen unions, Indian tribes, lawyers, pharmaceutical companies, recycler's, even Monsanto...then that candidate will be in the pocket of those interests, and will represent them at our peril? ...

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Thank you Lisa, for that clear and concise analysis. I've been saying to people that part of a decision about who to support should be an analysis of who the endorsees and financially supports candidates. There is absolutely no slander or personal attack involved in pointing any of this out.

Lisa Maldonado wrote:

Wow. Thats a lot of 'slander and dirt' for someone complaining about "slander and dirt" . ...

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

i had the good fortune of meeting Noreen Evans (i went to one of her public meet and greet) and i went there a little bit kicking and screaming.. my good friend asked me to "just try"..lol In particular, i am so disappointed by our present BOS and have witnessed their lack of backbone for awhile now, so i can't imagine anyone being the right person because i often feel people are, in fact, bought and sold before they even sit their butts in the seat up there.

However, Noreen Evans knowledge and breadth of experience does not even compare to Lynda Hopkins. Yeah, i know you have to start somewhere. Yet, when i notice practically every sign of Lynda Hopkins sitting in a vineyard or pretty damn close to them, i'm clearly being told who she aligns herself with. How would she "ever" be able to buck the wine industry...not to mention her family is already quite enmeshed.

She is supported by Efren, and quite frankly, ABSOLUTELY, that is suspect in my book. she is supported by Eric Koenigshofer-the smartest guy in the room-Efren's sidekick, appointed to the Task Force, which virtually rendered any oversight of our Sheriff impotent. she is supported by James Gore- hellooo, Wine, Wine and More Wine-thank you very much....

Yes, maybe, i'm myopic because my interest is accountability and oversight of Law Enforcement but i really believe so many Supervisors are embroiled in the stinky backroom deals that have been paralyzing our County for too long.

Noreen is smart and understands how money flows, not just about how our River flows. (Budgets ARE her expertise) i suppose Lynda Hopkins wants to go off the porch and run with the big dogs- this is not a put down- i'm just saying, there are some damn mean dogs in this County and she seems kinda nice. Lynda Hopkins by the way, never answered my questions about accountability of law enforcement nor did she seem to have a problem with the major lawsuits our county is facing due to ongoing Deputy misconduct. I'm afraid no one gets elected to the Board without the support of Wine, DA, or the Sheriff---the trifecta of corruption!
peace beshiva

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?- More Greenwashing from Hopkins

I keep hearing that Lynda is a staunch environmentalist and she is not in the pocket of business and developers- even though she is being funded and endorsed by the Sonoma County Real Estate PAC and the Sonoma County Business Alliance PAC. I also heard that she told the crowd at the Bodega Bay debate that she is 'not really paying attention' to the money pouring in to her campaign from big business.

I think Lynda is a nice person with good intentions.... And yet.. when I see things like this I am even more sure that we need a committed experienced Supervisor like Noreen Evans.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

And there is an old barn dance saying that needs no translation. "Ya gotta dance with the one who brung ya."

Lisa Maldonado wrote:

There is a well know saying in Spanish " Dime Con Quien Andas y Te Dire Quien Eres" . Loosely translated this means " tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are"

Read the PD article and see why some of the Farm to Table organic rhetoric pushed by the Hopkins campaign is in stark contrast to the people who are backing her (including her Republican consultant Rob Muelrath). The real estate development lobby, big money wineries and the Sonoma County Business Alliance don't back green and progressive candidates. They back those who will support their interests. Wake up and smell the Greenwashing

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?- More Greenwashing from Hopkins

Hi Lisa,

You're good, don't look forward to tangling with you after I get in the top two after the primary. Just wish you'd have done as well by the thousands of retiree's, before Noreen Evans on Santa Rosa City Council and the Sonoma Supervisor's gave the first wave of retiring baby boomers the 50% retroactive unfunded retirement.increases. As a result we are in the midst of the worst fiscal disaster in the history of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, with five-fold increases in pension costs and corresponding cuts to education, mental health services, social programs, roads and infrastructure.

I'm sure you've already printed the hit pieces against Lynda Hopkins with the "guilt by association" tag. Note my response at Friday nights debate in Bodega Bay, when Noreen tried to pull this nonsense. Go ahead and do what you tried to do to Efren with the same result in 2008.

respect and kind regards Lisa...wish you represented more than the retiring Baby Boomers...maybe try representing the Millenials and Gen'Xer's.

Lisa Maldonado wrote:

I keep hearing that Lynda is a staunch environmentalist and she is not in the pocket of business and developers- ....

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Update on Ernie's Assessment of the Hopkins Campaign: Firstly, it's getting weird out there. Would like to be a fly on the wall when Hopkins learned that her campaign manager/consultant/handler Bob Muelrath was working for the Cloverdale Rancheria to establish an Indian gaming casino near Cloverdale. It was the Windsor Casino near her Fourth District farm and home that got her stoked to run for Fifth District Supervisor! I am sure she will be asked the question of how she reconciles this. It appears as a double standard but winning is everything. No?

Hopkins campaign has tried to create a "high road" and "Why can't we just all get along" theme. It is perfectly rational for the developers and Big Wine candidate who has more real estate, development and Big Wine money than she can spend to try this approach. It is what James Gore did in the Fourth and Hopkins has inherited the apparatus, same campaign manager, same real estate funding including out of County Real Estate Pacs,and essentially, the same approach, keep controversy down and buy the election with advertising and limitless money. Except the Fifth District is not the Fourth District. The West County likes to know their candidate and asks those kind of questions. I see Hopkins veneer cracking under this scrutiny. Her gambit of taking the high road in favor of not answering questions about her backers and motivations is no longer working. People have caught on and the stress is evident. Hopkins perhaps doesn't want to be the developer candidate, but she clearly is! People will continue to ask these questions.

She gave a strange rambling opening at the Sevastopol candidates forum about how people were mischaracterizing her campaign. She wants the heat to go away in favor of "we are all in this together" and somehow become immune to the criticism of real estate, Alliance of Developers. Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, and more real estate money coming onto her campaign. Welcome to the Fifth District where people are independent thinkers and ask those kind of questions. Hopkins is caught between her beliefs and her financing. It is why she took so long to come out in support of the GMO ban many people theorize. A few fore heads were slapped over at the Farm Bureau on that one. Worse, her campaign nickname for Noreen Evans is "Mean Noreen" because Evans, not a mean person, points out the differences in their finances. Evans does what candidates are suppose to do, point out differences.

Just what we need in the Fifth, a candidate who was spurred on to run by Indian gaming near her Fourth District home, who calls her self an organic farmer, and whose campaign manager is promoting Indian gaming, and he has opposed every good farm measure in Sonoma County in favor of chemicals and traditional farm methods for years. Yes, things are getting weird around the Hopkins campaign. The Fighting Fifth has had eight bad years of failure to resolve our problems-e.g sewer, water, roads, development, Right to Farm. We need to do better than the cryptic District jumping Hopkins and her "why can't we all just get along" campaign. Just getting along with her vision is giving the District over to Big Wine and development interest. Why else would the money spigot be turned on for Hopkins by these interest? Go read for yourself online at the Sonoma County Clerks office, the campaign finance reports.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

I did a rough, unscientific count of contributors to Hopkins from 1/1/16 to 4/23/16 totaling about $123K.
Some of the contributions are from people associated to business, some are direct.
This was a quick count, but you get the idea.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Ernieman wrote:

[U] The Fighting Fifth has had eight bad years of failure to resolve our problems-e.g sewer, water, roads, development, Right to Farm. We need to do better than the cryptic District jumping Hopkins and her "why can't we all just get along" campaign. Just getting along with her vision is giving the District over to Big Wine and development interest. Why else would the money spigot be turned on for Hopkins by these interest? Go read for yourself online at the Sonoma County Clerks office, the campaign finance reports.

Snore, Ernie...what are your comments about Evans? - who stated that she's always longed to live in Sebastopol, but bought a home in Far East Santa Rosa in the 1st District last year before this big opportunity to move into our district to run for the seat. The last 8 years have brought us movement on Roseland Annexation - something Evans did ABSOLUTELY nothing about when she sat on the City Council...Sonoma Clean Power...and a park in Moorland which could have been built when you were the supervisor if you hadn't blocked it - I wonder how you sleep at night.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

as we are sorting through the truths let us us begin by being clear that the Supervisors who sat in those seats for the past 27 years did ABSOLUTELY nothing to build a Park in Moorland....including Efren Carrillo. They never had an intention to build that park the year Andy was killed or any other year. So, backslapping Efren is out of the question.
It took the killing of Andy Lopez by Erick Gelhaus to Finally give that neighborhood their due Park! And, even after Andy died, Efren was trying to backstep from naming the Park which, by the Way, the Board voted on unanimously before the end of 2013 to build the Park in Andy's honor. Also, City of SR has never annexed Moorland and they STILL are NOT annexing Moorland, But, they have millions to pretty up downtown. once again, Moorland is told to wait.
Dying is what it takes unfortunately, and a whole lot of community pressure to force these knuckleheads to even begin to do the right thing.
Lynda Hopkins allegiance to the Winery fat/cats is all over the place, i hope everyone is paying attention. She couldn't be neutral of who she is owing to if she tried or wanted to.. frankly it is painful to watch. And, she hasn't a clue what the BOS is about, but she doesn't have to worry anyway. Because, if she wins all she has to do is take orders from the rest of the kowtow Board.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Ernieman wrote:

Evans does what candidates are suppose to do, point out differences.

Exactly. There is no difference between Ernie Carpenter, Noreen Evans, and the rest of the natural succession of leaders who have brought us to the point where we are now; extreme homelessness, lack of skilled labor jobs, horrible roads, terrible traffic, severe income inequality, more violent crime, high suicide rates, etc. Why would any right minded citizen vote to reelect someone who was previously a direct participant in this natural succession of leadership?

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

That property was privately owned until Efren coordinated its purchase. Had the developer been required to build the park at that site over 20 years ago, as proposed, the taxpayers would not be footing the bill for that park today. The land was owned, and the park was promised to the community when the very dense development went in...Carpenter stopped that park from being built in exchange for "freezing the land" until such time as it was annexed into the city. It became the weed infested, trampled lot that you see today.

Due to County efforts, the neighborhood will soon have their neighborhood park. Say what you will, but the developer had the land on the market for nearly a million dollars just a few years ago. It was private property destined for housing until the Lopez incident.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

oh WOW. guess we are Lucky- you know, 'that incident" as Andy's parents call it :(
quite the contrary- that land was destined to be an empty lot that's why it WAS an empty lot. everyone was gonna sit on their laurels till the cows come home.

a million dollars! and they got it for a little over 50k- hmm, how cheap our children's lives are
and yes, it was County's efforts, specifically Regional Parks, along with an amazing architect Steve Cancien and further along with the community and a steering committee, all working hand and hand to create a beautiful park which will finally come to fruition. it is indeed, bittersweet.

Ann Onimus wrote:

That property was privately owned until Efren coordinated its purchase. ...

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Here's a question for the candidates: Does the County provide a car for the Supervisors? If they don't Noreen may want to re-think her candidacy because she totally lost it when the State took her car away. I think that's why she left office.

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

I don't get the notion Ernie Carpenter had something to do with stopping a Moreland Park. I left office in 1997. On my watch we developed the large park on Hearn Avenue and added land to it. Eric had acquired the property earlier but it was developed on my watch. There was no thought of a park on Moreland. There was a private development that local people opposed that put up a park but it did not proceed. In 1990 this site and area was too green for development-e.g narrow roads, no sidewalks, no drainage or surrounding development.

Ann Onimus wrote:

...Carpenter stopped that park from being built in exchange for "freezing the land" until such time as it was annexed into the city. It became the weed infested, trampled lot that you see today....

Re: What do you think of Lynda Hopkins?

Ernieman wrote:

I don't get the notion Ernie Carpenter had something to do with stopping a Moreland Park. ...

Maybe your memory is failing. The developer of that extremely dense subdivision clearly remembers that at the board hearing, after he thought his project was a "go", that you reversed course, froze a portion of the development, and did not require the park to be built as some sort of consolation prize. The board minutes reflect that as well. The property had been owned by the same person that built that very dense subdivision adjacent to what will now become a park - it's in the record, Mr. Carpenter.

As it turns out, the community will get a much larger park - but the taxpayers will foot the bill, not the developer.